Let's go shopping
by planet p
Summary: AU; a little explanation about Debbie's best friend, if you'd rather just read something short to give her some background. Lame!


**Let's go shopping** by planet p

**Disclaimer** I don't own _the Pretender_ or any of its characters.

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Debbie turned her favourite silver shooting star pin over in her hand, glancing down at the small inscription on the back.

_ER_

When Lyle had given it to her, she'd been led to believe it had belonged to a young woman named Lin; his daughter, Saskia's, mother.

Frowning, she wondered what 'ER' could mean. Was it someone's initials, or did it mean something else; a place maybe?

Sighing heavily, she turned the pin back over in her hand and pinned it back onto her school sweater. The only ER that she knew of that might possibly have had any conceivable importance to Lyle was Edna Raines, but then, according to Parker, she'd been dead before Lyle had even come to work for the Center.

Picking her schoolbag up off the concrete footpath that ran in front of the fence out front of the high school, Debbie sighed and began walking in the direction of the shops.

Her father's name started with an 'e' too, but, obviously, his surname did not begin with an 'r' (but a 'b').

"Rrrr…" Sounding out the letter 'r', she tried to connect it with the names of anyone she knew, and pulled a face. Reston! No way!

She laughed. That guy was way creepy! He'd even named his car the Restonator.

Eve: Eve was a woman's name that began with an 'e', or Emma. Still, she didn't know anyone by those names, either. Not anyone especially important.

Ellie, she thought, also began with an 'e', in some cases. Allie was her mother's name – well, Alicia was her mom's name – but, in any case, it began with an 'a'.

Ezekiel, Ephraim, Eleanor…

She sighed heavily and tried to remember what Lin had looked like. She'd seen a picture once, it had been a photograph of Lin and Saskia, and she'd imagined that Saskia was her older sister. Still, it was hard for her to remember the details exactly.

Red hair, Lin had had red hair, she thought. (Her mom, too.) But she'd remembered because Saskia's hair hadn't had any red in it at all; it had been closer to Miss Parker's dark brown hair than her mother, Lin's, hair colour. And… she'd had a tan, but it was natural; Saskia had a bit of a tan, too, but less than her mother.

Eleanor. She turned the name over in her mind like she'd earlier turned the pin over in her hand. El-lin-or? Could Lin's name have been Eleanor?

She began to frown seriously, and was startled by a honk from a car that had pulled up behind her.

"Hey, girl," Silvie called out of the window, "where you goin'?"

"Shops," she replied. Silvie wasn't in school anymore, but she was her best friend ever. She was a bit of a strange Goth – she would always add something colourful to all of her black garb – but she was a totally trustworthy friend.

"Hop in, I'll give you a lift!"

Debbie double-backed and walked around the car, grabbing the doorhandle and pulling the car door open. Once she'd settled in her chair, she turned to glance at her friend. "Silvie?"

"Yeah, mate?"

"What was your mother's name?"

Her friend, who'd just hit the indicators, clicked them off again. "Why do you ask, D?" she asked, suddenly serious.

Feeling colour rise in her face, Debbie forced herself to say what had been bugging her for a long time. She brought a hand up to her sweater and rested a finger on the shooting star pin. "This is your mother's pin, isn't it?"

Silvie gave a heavy sigh, then snapped back to her weirdly cheerful self, "Yeah, darlin', it is."

"Then Lyle's your father?"

"Right on the money, honey," Silvie chimed, with a nod.

"Silvie? Was your mom's name Eleanor?"

"No, love, it wasn't."

"Was it anything beginning with an 'e'?"

"It tended to change."

"Your mom had different names?"

Silvie sighed again. "Look, darl, I know Lucky gets around like she's dead and it's all gloomy, but she's not dead, he's just… he just thinks she is. And you know, maybe that's for the best."

"Why?"

"Cos maybe they just weren't meant to be together. Maybe they on opposite sides, D."

"Silvie?"

"Yo?"

"Why are you talking like that?"

"You're right," Silvie replied, and Debbie had a feeling she'd been watching a lot of television somewhere, like maybe at a medical clinic.

"Opposite sides of what?" Debbie continued.

"A big scary thing you don't mess with," Silvie answered.

"A big scary thing like the Tower?" Debbie asked.

"Possibly, a big scary thing like that," Silvie agreed.

"Did your mom do something that upset them?"

"Debbie, my mom was working for the enemy. That was why she had to die. If the enemy comes into Center territory, they never get away unscathed."

"Your mom was working for a rival of the Center?" Debbie asked.

"_The_ rival," Silvie corrected. "T-Corp. I swear, that's their name, and no, siree, I didn't just make that up off the top of my head, cos I know it's so awful!" She laughed.

Debbie smiled, but she didn't laugh along. "If it was my choice, I'd tell him," she said.

Silvie fixed her with a deadly serious look. "You ain't gon' say nothin', you hear, D? You're gon' get him mixed up, 'f you do that. An' he don't need no more mixin' up, tha' boy, you hear what I'm sayin', D?"

Debbie nodded.

"There's my girl!"

"Boy already mixed up enough, girl, he don't need no more mixin' up. Hell, boy's still livin' in Fantasy Land believin' that his parents gon' one day get back together and be all happy and lovey-dovey again! Boy needs some ser-i-ous ther'py! Now I ain't one to discount the gooey mushiness of true love, but those two ain't never gon' get back together, girl! They worlds apart, jus' like they always been! They too different!"

"Silvie. You're doing it again."

"Yea! I need me some strong coffee!"

"Right up," Debbie replied.

Silvie burst out laughing. "In the words of an annoying, anatomically-incorrect popular children's plastic doll: 'Let's go shopping!'"

"Let's go shopping," Debbie agreed.


End file.
